New Mexico environmental officials are offering to test private domestic wells in the wake of a last week in southwest Colorado of mine wastewater into the Animas River.
The New Mexico Environment Department on Sunday night said the testing in relation to the spill and general well water quality.
“We are mobilizing a team of scientists, engineers and technical specialists, in concert with the Environmental Protection Agency, to staff a station outside the San Juan County Fair that can provide free well water testing for domestic wells all week long,” Ryan Flynn, the department’s secretary, said in a statement.
The department said in a news release that it is coordinating with federal agencies to assist with cleaning wildlife covered in sludge from the spill.
The department said last week it has set aside $500,000 of emergency funds to deal with the contaminated waters.
Officials in New Mexico that the EPA did not hastily notify them of the disaster.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or twitter.com/JesseAPaul
